This was a controversial plan for a large expressway through Lower Manhattan, originally conceived by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority chairman Robert Moses. After the Planning Commission had approved the expressway proposal, the city moved to evict 2,000 families in 416 buildings along the expressway's route, as well as displace 804 businesses. However, residents started organizing protests against the relocation plan, led by community activist Jane Jacobs, who chaired the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway, along with Margaret Mead, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lewis Mumford, Charles Abrams, and William H. Whyte.
